Direction signal



Nov. l, 1927.

S. MCC. TERWILLIGER DIRECTION SIGNAL Filed Nv. 9, 192s ET AL PatentedNov. 1, 1927. l

`yr vil) TES PArurfor A sunny Macolin TERWILLIGER AND WILLIAM TELLsnvnivnn, or' lnos Attentats, f Y

Application f'le'd November v9, i926; lSeria11475-329.

l This invention frelates to 'direction signals ot-thefmanually operatedtype vvand 1s ,particularlydirected to a signal device whichisespecially adaptable Vfor association with l5 road vehicles and moreparticularly with standard types of-motor vehicles.

Traic laws of many States and common practice fhaveresulted lin acertain accepted method -oi'f manually indicating 'contem- V platedrightgor left. turns or stops, this methodrequiring the :driver toextend his arm and hand outwardly `from the vehicle, in a `horizontaldirection fto indicate a contemplated left turn, more or less 'upwardlyto indicate ka contemplated rightturn, 4and moreor less downwardly toindicate -a contemplated stop. ,It is for this reason desirable that adirection ysignal Amechanism ,include a vsemaphore indicating =member 2oformed in simulation o a hand. Signal devices having this ygeneralcharacter of indieating. arm have heretofore been made,

but-,even ythough Apainted ,a light colorare distinctly visible andattract attention -only when viewed from a relatively vshort distanceinthe daytime, and are-practically invisible at night vunless providedwith some meansof illumination. lt is now generally recognized that asignal lwhich is illumi- .30 nated ywill be ,more yvisible in the-daytime aswell as at nightand it -is a lgeneral i practiceto illuminatethe `indicating means of such devices by means :of a lamp enclosedtherein and projecting Lits rays directly through a colored glass orlens, butin every instance of this kind, in orderV that such lamp andits iilament be lvnot.' objectionably visible, it is vnecessary that'the yglass or lens be of relatively dark color `or not 4fullytransparent. f

By experiments, we have found that a very superior degree ofvisibilitymay be had by means of `indirect illumination, with :themechanism arranged to :produce `an illuminated .outline of theindicatingfelement, ythat by reason 'of such .indirect illumination wemay vfully utilizea pure `White light and at the same time entirelyeliminate glare and all. vpossibility of `viewingithe source yolsaidillumination, and that We ycan dispense with the glass or lens usuallyemployed.

Therefore, it is .an object of thepresentv invention `to provide asignal device having acsignal ,element illuminated in outline Vbyindirect illumination.

A further object is to provide a lsignal device havingsemaphiore'lsignal memberjin simulation-otra. human arm andhand with thehand portiony thereof :illuminated in -out; line by :indirectillumination. l f u l Another lobject is` to .providean illumi natedsignal member `having the source of illumination `rhid, from -view by anopaque memberlof .a shape corresponding ,to ithat "of,v the idesiredsignal .and vproviding reflecting 6 5 surfaces Cadjacent-fthe.-marginail edges .of said opaque member. l o l Another yobject vis .to4 provide a counter` balanced signal arm. v. "Various other ob-'ccts andadvantages will be more fully apparent rom'the following description ofthe accompanying drawing .which Jformsa. 4vpart of ,this disclosure,.and

which ,illustrates ya preferred .orm of embodiment :of the invention.`

ytOthe drawings: g

Fig. lis a plansection through a portion of the windshield-andVinstrument-4bcardof a-:motor vehicle, :showing the signal device ofrthe lpresent invention associated there- 80 with, .a :portiony of the.signal arm being shown in the section.

Fig. '2 is affront elevation yshowing ythe signal .arm ,in "uprightposition, certain por-v tionsof'the'device being shown insection.

Fig. i3 fis.an edge elevation, partly inv section, as indicated Abyline3-3 of Fig. 2.

eis-an enlarged detailsection taken The signal device lillustrated inthedraw# ing, includesafsignaliarm .A 4which 4is rotatably jounnale'd lonthe outer fend of a Vsupporting rbracliet preferably secured to thewindshield frameof a Vmotor vehicle, and` a 'suitableoperatingdevice Bpreferably se- 95` cured to the instrument-board ina location convenientAfor operation by the driver. The 4,signal l,arm A is adapted to berotated from a normal vnon-s'i'ggnalling position,y as shown iin Fig.fl, to various `:signaling positions and `when in normal position .the-signaling zportion loi' the arm A fis; screened from view fwfithin laU-,shaped shield -C lwhich is open iatiits sides :and top to permit thesig@ nalarm v,to swing freely upwards and out- Wartlly. i

The bracket lfengages the rear lwall 3 of the shield :CV and both aresecured tothe frame 2 :bygscrews-or ybolts e, the front, wall 5 oitithefshield havingfsuitable apertures 6 .bracket arm 7 Vformed thereinin 'alignmentr with said screws to permit of the insertion of ascrewdriver to engage the screws during instal-v which is slidablvguided a toothed rack -8 ar` ranged to engage a pinion 9 secured to theVsignal arm A and enclosed .within a hollow boss 10cformed on the outerend of the While it is `realized' that the signal arm Amay be made ofany suitable material and in various manners, the preferred constructionherein illustrated consistsl of two sheet metal members 11-11a formingopposite sides of the arm, saidV members being joined together at theirperipheral meeting edges vby welding or by other suitable means. flhepinion 9, previously referred to, is formed on a tubular hub 12 securedin the signal arm A (see Fig. 3) and the signal arm A is rotatablysecured to the bracket arm by a hollow pivot bolt 13 which passesthrough said hub 12 and is secured to said bracket arm by a nut 14. f

The means for reciprocatingthe rack 8 to operate the signal arm,comprises a rod 15 secured in the inner end of said rack, with itsopposite end connected to a flexible wire or cable 16 enclosed in aconduit guide 17 leading to the operating device B.

As shown in Fig. 1, the signal arm Al is in ai non-signaling position4within the shield C, when not in use, Athis normal position of thesignal arm being also indicated in F fg. 2 by the dotted outline 33.

By a suitable operation of the device B the wire 16 will be pushed intothe conduit 17 and will Vpropel the rack 8 outwardly and this outwardtravel of said rack will by reason of its toothed engagement with thepinion 9 cause the signal arm A to be swung upwardly to the positionshown in 'full lines in Fig. 2, to signal a contemplated right turn.l lnal similar manner the signal arm A may be swung approximately one-halfof a revolution to a horizontal position, as indicated in Fig. 2 by thedotted outline 34, to signal a contemplated left turn, or rotatedapproximately three-quarters of a revolution to a downward position asindicated in Fig. 2 by the dotted outline 35, to signal a contemplatedstop.

For the purpose of providing illumination for the signal arm, there isprovided an electric'lamp bulb 36 mounted within the hand port-ionthereof, as will be hereinafter explained, one Yterminal of said lampbeing grounded, as indicated at 37 in Fig. 1and the other terminalthereof being connected to a circuit wire 38. "Said circuit wire38extends through an opening in the front wall ofthe signal arm and leadsto the axis thereof where it passes rearwardly through the tubular pivotbolt 13 for connection in series with the operating device B and thebattery 43 ofthe vehicle, said battery being grounded as indicated at44.

f As previously mentioned, the lsignal element is contoured to representan open hand andis preferably Vformed of two sheet metal members 1l-11.Closely adjacent the outer margin .of this hand-shaped signal elementthe members 11---11EL are each bent inwardly at an angle ofapproximately 45 degrees to provide opposite 'reflecting surfaces155-45?. the reflecting surface 45 facing forwardly and the reflectingsurface 45a facing rearwardly so that the signal will be equally visiblefrom both the front and rear of the vehicle;

Y rlhe palm portion of the members 11-11a are cut away to provide ahollow interior defined in'extent by the inner edges 46 of saidmembers.- Extending forwardly at spaced intervals from the inner edge 46of the membervll is a series of ears 47 having their outer ends bentparallel to the plane of the hand, and extending rearwardly from theinner edge of the member 11a is a similar' series ofv companion ears 48.These respective series of ears support front and rear cover plates49-50, the front plate 49 being Vpreferably secured to the ears 47 byspot welding and the plate 50being secured to the ears 48 by-screws 51so as to beconveniently removed for access tothe interior of the signalelement. Each of the cover plates is contoured similar to the exteriorshane ofthe hand portions of the members 11-11'UL but are of a reduced.size so as to leave an open space between their peripheral edges andthe respective reflecting surfaces 45-45a, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

rlhearm member 11 also has arelatively y narrow bridge 52 which supportsthe lamp 36, said bridge having a half round central portion formingone-half of a lamp socket, the other half thereof being formed of astrap member' 53. @ne end of the member has a talig 54 engaging in anaperture 55 in the bridge 52 while its opposite end is' the angledreflecting surfaces` 45 and 45 and the interior surfaces of the hand, ina light color (preferably white) so as to be highly refiective, thus totake full advantage of the maximum illumination a-Eorded by the lamp. v

fige-17,380

The light rays emanating fromV the lamp will be projected onto theangled reflecting surfaces and vthence outwardly in opposite directions,as indicated in Fig. 4 of the 5 drawing, through the open space between,said reflecting surfaces and the marginal edges of the cover plates49-50, to thus produce a signal element illuminated in outline byindirect illumination, with said outline contoured in simulation of ahuman hand. In a signal element of this character'the lamp is hid fromview by the opaque cover plates and the available value of the lightlrays are not diminished by having to pass through colored glass orlenses.

' It is further to be noted that the end of the arm A extends beyond itspoint of pivot-al securance to the bracket, in adirection iopposite thatof the hand portion, and that this extended portion is weighted bysuitable material 57 so as to counterbalance the signal arm A` andrender it easy to be operated by the flexible wire or cable 16.

While the specific embodiment herein illustrated and described is f'ullycapable of fulfilling all of the objects primarily stated, it

is to be understood that we do not wishtov f from view, said plate beingcontoured to correspond to the shape of the desired signal symbol and ofslightly smaller size than the outer periphery of said reflectingsurface and spaced therefrom to provide a light pas- I sage outliningthe symbol.

2. In' a signal element provided with indirect illumination, thecombination of: a hollow body having front and rear peripheralreflecting surfaces angled inwardly and contoured to define the shape ofthe desired signal symbol; a source of illumination within said hollowbody; and front and rear i cover plates obscuring said source from view,each plate being contoured to correspond to the shape of the desiredsignal symbol and of slightly smaller size than the outer periphery ofthe adjacent reflecting surface and spaced therefrom to, provide a lightpassage outlining the symbol.

3. In a signal element provided with indirect illumination, thecombination of: a hol- 'low body having a peripheral light passagecontoured to define the shapefof the desired signal symbol; an angledreflecting surface adjacent said'passage and coinci'dently con-` etYtoured; anda source of illumination within c said body, the walls of thebody being opaque f so as to hide said source from View.

4. -In a signal element provided with indirect illumination, thecombination of: a hol low body'having a peripheral reflecting surfaceangled inwardly and contoured'in simu-l lation Vof a human hand; asource of-illumination within said hollow body; and a cover plateobscuring said source from View, said plate vbeing contoured insimulation of a human hand and of slightly smaller size than the outerperiphery of said reflecting surface and spacedtherefrom to provide alight passageoutlining the hand-shaped signal. 5. In a signal elementprovided with indirect illumination, the combination of: a

hollow body having front and rear periph- Veral'reflecting surfaces,each angled inwardly and contoured in simulation of a human hand; asource of illumination within `said hollow body; and front and rearcover plates obscuring saidV source from View, eachcover plate beingcontoured n simulation of a human hand and of slightly smaller size thanthe outer periphery of the adjacent reflecting surface and spacedtherefrom to provide a light passage outlining the handshaped signal.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Glendale,California, this 3rd day of November, 1926.

sEnLY Macolin TERWILLIGER. WILLIAM TELL sEvENER.

